In this afternoon's State of the State address, educators will be looking for Gov. Andrew Cuomo to discuss one main issue above all: money.

"I would be very happy to see if there was any change in the state aid formula so that underfunded school districts such as Utica, receive their fair share of money from state aid — that's my biggest hope," said Utica City School District Superintendent Bruce Karam.

Other than a more equitable aid formula, Karam said he hopes Cuomo also discusses additional funding for schools as well as mandate relief.

Though, for school districts, the proof will be in the pudding as the real answers will come with the state budget which is expected to be released in the next few weeks — with an overall due date of April 1.

"This is the prelude to the budget," said Howard Mettelman, Oneida-Herkimer-Madison BOCES superintendent. "This really offers the opportunity for (Cuomo) to share his vision for the state and then we'll see the practical implementation of that vision in the budget."

Cuomo previously has said he plans to increase education aid by 4 percent for 2014-15 — about an $833 million increase — but many education experts say that's not enough.

Mettelman said that he hopes the expected surplus in the state budget will go towards funding education.

Last January Cuomo discussed a number of education initiatives including:

ä More learning time through an extended school day and investing in full-day kindergarten for the state's highest-needs students.

ä The creation of community schools offering education, health, employment, after school and other support services.

"A lot of it still is in the preliminary stages as far as how it's all going to pan out," Karam said about the programs that came out of last year's address.

Two topics experts also hope Cuomo will discuss are the implementation and full funding for full-day kindergarten and pre-kindergarten as well as possible relief for school districts that stay under the tax cap.

The New York State School Boards association also hopes he discusses school safety.

"We would like to see expenses that are related to school safety such as hiring school resource officers exempt from tax levy calculations," said David Albert, association director of communications and research.

Overall, the address will allow educators the opportunity to see what will be the focus of 2014.

"The state of the state sets the tone, sets the agenda but ultimately both houses of the legislature must agree," said Carl Korn, spokesman for New York State United Teachers. "We'll see the results in April."